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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1025
January Session, 2023
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
HOMEMAKER -COMPANION AGENCY TASK FORCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) The Secretary of the Office of Policy 1
and Management, in consultation with the Commissioners of Consumer 2
Protection and Public Health, shall develop a plan to transfer the 3
responsibility for registration and oversight of homemaker-companion 4
agencies, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, as amended 5
by this act, from the Department of Consumer Protection to the 6
Department of Public Health by July 1, 2024. Not later than February 1, 7
2024, the secretary shall report, in accordance with section 11-4a of the 8
general statutes, on such plan to the joint standing committees of the 9
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to aging, 10
general law and public health. 11
Sec. 2. Section 20-675 of the general statutes is repealed and the 12
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 13
(a) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection may revoke, suspend 14
or refuse to issue or renew any certificate of registration as a 15
homemaker-companion agency or place an agency on probation or issue 16
a letter of reprimand for: (1) Conduct by the agency, or by an employee 17
of the agency while in the course of employment, of a character likely to 18 Substitute Bill No. 1025
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mislead, deceive or defraud the public or the commissioner; (2) 19
engaging in any untruthful or misleading advertising; (3) failure of such 20
agency that acts as a registry to comply with the notice requirements of 21
section 20-679a; or (4) failing to perform a comprehensive background 22
check of a prospective employee or maintain a copy of materials 23
obtained during a comprehensive background check, as required by 24
section 20-678. 25
(b) The commissioner shall revoke a certificate of registration if a 26
homemaker-companion agency violates any of the provisions of 27
subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of subsection (a) of this section three 28
times in one calendar year. 29
[(b)] (c) The commissioner shall not revoke or suspend any certificate 30
of registration except upon notice and hearing in accordance with 31
chapter 54. 32
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than January 1, 2024, 33
the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, in consultation with the 34
Commissioner of Public Health, and with the advice and guidance of 35
relevant training organizations, shall (1) develop training standards for 36
homemaker-companion agency employees, as defined in section 20-670 37
of the general statutes, as amended by this act, that (A) exemplify best 38
practices for providing homemaker and companion services, as defined 39
in section 20-670 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, (B) 40
provide instruction and specialized training benchmarks for the care of 41
clients with Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other related conditions, 42
and (C) ensure a high quality of care for homemaker-companion agency 43
clients, and (2) identify training programs that provide instruction in the 44
standards identified pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. The 45
Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall post such training 46
standards and a list of such training programs on the Department of 47
Consumer Protection's Internet web site. 48
(b) Homemaker-companion agencies may adopt the training 49
standards and train employees using the training programs posted on 50 Substitute Bill No. 1025
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the department's Internet web site pursuant to subsection (a) of this 51
section. 52
Sec. 4. (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Consumer 53
Protection shall develop a plan to implement mandatory training 54
standards for employees of homemaker-companion agencies, as 55
defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, as amended by this act. 56
Not later than February 1, 2024, the commissioner shall report, in 57
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, 58
on such plan to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 59
having cognizance of matters relating to aging. 60
Sec. 5. Section 20-679 of the general statutes is repealed and the 61
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 62
(a) Not later than seven calendar days after the date on which a 63
homemaker-companion agency commences providing homemaker 64
services or companion services, such agency shall provide the person 65
who receives the services, or the authorized representative of such 66
person, with a written contract or service plan. The written contract or 67
service plan shall be developed in consultation with such person or 68
authorized representative and include (1) a person-centered plan of care 69
and services that prescribes the anticipated scope, type, frequency, 70
duration and cost of the services provided by the agency, (2) the 71
anticipated scope, type and frequency of oversight of an employee 72
assigned to such person by the homemaker-companion agency, and (3) 73
a predetermined frequency of meetings between the person who 74
oversees such employee and the person who receives the services, or the 75
authorized representative of such person. In addition, any contract or 76
service plan provided by a homemaker-companion agency to a person 77
receiving services shall also provide conspicuous notice, in boldface 78
type [(1)] (A) of the person's right to request changes to, or review of the 79
contract or service plan, [(2)] (B) of the employees of such agency who, 80
pursuant to section 20-678 are required to submit to a comprehensive 81
background check, [(3)] (C) that upon the request of such person or an 82
authorized representative of such person, such agency shall provide 83 Substitute Bill No. 1025
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such person or representative of such person with written notice that a 84
comprehensive background check, as required pursuant to section 20-85
678, was performed for all employees of such agency performing 86
services for such person, [(4)] (D) that such agency's records are 87
available for inspection or audit by the Department of Consumer 88
Protection, [(5)] (E) that the agency is not able to guarantee the extent to 89
which its services will be covered under any insurance plan, and [(6)] 90
(F) that such contract or service plan may be cancelled at any time by 91
the client if such contract or service plan does not contain a specific 92
period of duration. On the date that a homemaker-companion agency 93
provides such contract or service plan to such person, the agency shall 94
also provide a printed copy of the guide that details the process by 95
which such person, or such person's authorized representative, may file 96
a complaint against such agency, posted on the Department of 97
Consumer Protection's Internet web site pursuant to section 6 of this act. 98
No contract or service plan for the provision of homemaker or 99
companion services shall be valid against the person who receives the 100
services or the authorized representative of such person, unless the 101
contract or service plan has been signed by a duly authorized 102
representative of the homemaker-companion agency and the person 103
who receives the services or the authorized representative of such 104
person. The requirements of this section shall not apply to homemaker 105
services or companion services provided under the Connecticut home-106
care program for the elderly administered by the Department of Social 107
Services in accordance with section 17b-342. A written contract or 108
service plan between a homemaker-companion agency and a person 109
receiving services or the authorized representative of such person shall 110
not be enforceable against such person receiving services or authorized 111
representative unless such written contract or service plan contains all 112
of the requirements of this section. 113
(b) Nothing in this section shall preclude a homemaker-companion 114
agency that has complied with [subdivisions (1) to (6)] subparagraphs 115
(A) to (F), inclusive, of subsection (a) of this section from the recovery of 116
payment for work performed based on the reasonable value of services 117 Substitute Bill No. 1025
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which were requested by the person receiving services, provided the 118
court determines that it would be inequitable to deny such recovery. 119
(c) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall develop a model 120
written contract and model service plan, as described in subsection (a) 121
of this section. Not later than January 1, 2024, the commissioner shall 122
post such model written contract and model service plan on the 123
department's Internet web site. 124
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Not later than October 1, 2023, 125
the Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall post a guide that details 126
the process by which a person who receives homemaker services or 127
companion services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, 128
as amended by this act, or the authorized representative of such person, 129
may file a complaint against a homemaker-companion agency, as 130
defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, 131
on its Internet web site. 132
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective from passage) On and after January 1, 2024, 133
each homemaker-companion agency, as defined in section 20-670 of the 134
general statutes, as amended by this act, shall have a printed consumer 135
brochure and maintain an Internet web site detailing the homemaker 136
and companion services offered by such agency and provide such 137
brochure or the address of such Internet web site upon the request of 138
consumers. 139
Sec. 8. Subdivision (8) of section 20-670 of the general statutes is 140
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 141
passage): 142
(8) "Homemaker services" means nonmedical and supportive in-143
home care services, including, but not limited to, assistance with 144
cooking, household cleaning, laundry, personal hygiene and other 145
household chores, that ensure a healthy and safe environment for a 146
person in the person's home. 147
Sec. 9. Section 20-677 of the general statutes is amended by adding 148 Substitute Bill No. 1025
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subsection (g) as follows (Effective from passage): 149
(NEW) (g) A homemaker-companion agency may include in its 150
business name and advertising (1) the term "care" if such term is used in 151
reference to such agency's provision of homemaker services, and (2) any 152
words that accurately describe, as determined by the commissioner, that 153
such agency has employees who are trained to provide homemaker 154
services to individuals experiencing memory difficulties. 155
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage 20-675
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 October 1, 2023 20-679
Sec. 6 from passage New section
Sec. 7 from passage New section
Sec. 8 from passage 20-670(8)
Sec. 9 from passage 20-677(g)
AGE Joint Favorable Subst.
APP Joint Favorable